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Étude No 6 in D minor 'Esercizio per pianoforte, Omaggio a Domenico Scarlatti'

Introduction

Domenico Scarlatti’s 555 keyboard sonatas constitute a body of work replete with marvellous invention and amazing variety. Yet, inevitably perhaps, there are recurring mannerisms, and to someone like myself who is easily given to lampooning, these are very easy to make fun of. Anyone who, like me, loves these sonatas should not in the least take offence at what I’ve done in No 6, Esercizio per pianoforte ‘Omaggio a Domenico Scarlatti’—this is a purely affectionate tribute, even though I have obviously exaggerated a few things! The acrobatic nature of the writing adds a humorous visual dimension to any live performance, a dimension that is of course lost in a recording.

Recordings

Hamelin plays Hamelin: a glimpse into the fabulously bizarre musical mind of one of the greatest piano virtuosos of today. Marc-André Hamelin’s 12 Études, written over a period of nearly twenty-five years, have already achieved cult status by repu ...» More

'Hamelin's performances are a wonder of brilliance and refinement. The recordings are superb, Jeremy Nicholas's notes a mine of informative titbits. I ...'This collection of virtuoso encores by mostly forgotten pianist-composers is simply sensational' (The Sunday Times)» More

Details

This deft, witty take on the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti, though only the sixth in a planned cycle of twelve studies by Mr Hamelin. Its five predecessors present enormous technical challenges to the player. ‘The Scarlatti study’, says Hamelin, ‘is probably the easiest of the bunch but still presents some problems, especially at the tempo at which it has to go’—a typical Hamelin understatement. There are no direct quotes from Scarlatti, but the structure and many of the mannerisms from the canon of his nearly six hundred sonatas are incorporated in a whirlwind succession of rapid runs, terrifying leaps and crossed-hand passages (audiences have been known to laugh out loud in performance at the comic visual effect of these) as well as Mr Hamelin’s trademark humourous wrong-note harmonies. The Etude, composed in 1992, is dedicated to Artis Wodehouse and Joe Patrych.